Smriti Mandhana  

Smriti Shriniwas Mandhana (/smɪˌrɪ.tiː ˈmɑːn.dən.ɑː/ smi-ri-tee MAHN-dən-ah;^[1][2] born 18 July 1996) is an Indian cricketer who plays for the Indian women's national team and signed to play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the WPL.^[3][4][5]

She plays for the Maharashtra cricket team in domestic cricket.^[5]

In June 2018, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) awarded her 'the Best Women's International Cricketer' in BCCI awards.^[6] In December 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded her with the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for the best female cricketer of the year.^[7] On 30 December 2021, she became a nominee of the ICC Women's T20 Player of the Year.^[8] In December 2021, she, Tammy Beaumont, Lizelle Lee and Gaby Lewis were nominated for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year.^[9] In January 2022, the ICC awarded her with the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year.^[10]

On 13 February 2023 at the inaugural Women's Premier League auction, Smriti was signed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in INR 3.40 crore.^[3]

Early and personal life[edit]

Mandhana was born on 18 July 1996 in Mumbai to Smita and Shrinivas Mandhana in a Marwari family .^[11][12][13]

When she was two, the family moved to Madhavnagar, Sangli in Maharashtra, where she completed her schooling. Both her father and brother, Shravan, played cricket at the district-level, for Sangli. She was inspired to take up cricket after watching her brother play at the Maharashtra state Under-16s tournaments. At the age of nine, she was selected in the Maharashtra's Under-15 team. At eleven, she was picked for the Maharashtra Under-19s team.^[14]

Mandhana's family is closely involved in her cricketing activities. Her father Shrinivas, a chemical distributor, takes care of her cricket programme, her mother Smita is in charge of her diet, clothing and other organisational aspects, and her brother Shravan still bowls to her in the nets.^[11][12]

Domestic career[edit]

Her first breakthrough came in October 2013, when she became the first Indian woman to achieve a double-hundred in a one-day game. Playing for Maharashtra against Gujarat, she scored an unbeaten 224 off 150 balls in the West Zone Under-19 Tournament, at the Alembic Cricket Ground in Vadodara.^[15]

In the 2016 Women's Challenger Trophy, Mandhana scored three half-centuries for India Red in as many games, and helped her team win the trophy by making an unbeaten 62 off 82 balls in the final against India Blue. With 192 runs, she emerged as the tournament's top-scorer.^[16]

In September 2016, Mandhana was signed up for a one-year deal with Brisbane Heat for the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), and along with Harmanpreet Kaur, became one of the first two Indians to be signed up for the League.^[17] Playing against Melbourne Renegades in January 2017, she fell awkwardly while fielding after bowling the final ball of her over hurting her knee. She was ruled out of the rest of the tournament which she ended having scored 89 runs in 12 innings.^[18][19]

In June